When did Casady start playing those radical Alembic basses? The ones with all the cool pre-amps and onboard active electronics? What in the world were all those knobs and pots and switches and thingies all for and how did they work?

Was Alembic the company, makers of Jack's basses and Jerry Garcia's guitars really the brainchild of the one and only Augustus Stanley Osley III?

I have no clue about the Alembic thing, but I know that Casady had an amp pickp for each string, so he had four amps for his bass......hence all those buttons and knobs, he needed one for each string/amp

If you were a cloud and you sailed up there,
You sail on water as blue as air;
You'd see me here in the fields and say,
"Doesn't the sky look green today?"

If you are curious, mosey over to Guild bass forum (as well as the Dark Star pickup forum) on The Dudepit. There have been some really complete and awesome discussions on the topic with input from people who were involved.

I checked out that site, and it was very interesting - even though I am not musically inclined. There are some real wackos there, not to mention some very wacked bass guitar designs posted!
I found something in the "disturbing photo" thread there that I have been looking for for years - it's an old ad poster for Fender guitars that has the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, sitting on his shroom, playing a bass and strat at the same time. This picture is so awesome - I tried to post it here, but failed. I wish I could post it or even make it my avatar - did anyone else ever see this?

Edit - More info on the above picture:
Page 63 of "Disturbing Photo" thread
Post # 627, by Rich Meland, on 7-21-05
This is not a disturbing picture - it is way cool!
Anyone know how to post it here or help me get it as a new avatar??????

I was raised in a den of "Deadheads", and could never figure out what all the hoopla was about - until I started paying attention to what Phil Lesh was up to. "Brown Eyed Women", on Europe 72, is a great example of how he really carries that group.

I can understand that Jimmy Ray. I never had a clue that Jack & Phil were such pioneers when it came to pickup design. I just thought they were great players! Some of the guys on the DudePit are friends with the pair and really provide an education.

I like this quote:
"Jack says that is why he went to Epiphone - he wanted people to be able to afford it, and he keeps tabs on the quality of the basses as they are produced, pulling his own basses from stock."
Amazing, but true??????????????????????????

I bought a DVD about guitar setup & repair featuring Dan Erlwine. Towards the end, he brings in Jack & Jorma. Jack talks about his new line of basses and why he prefered them to the Guild Starfires he played after 1969, citing the longer scale neck and the overall durability. But the The Epi is really a variant on the gold top Gibsons he played in many of the Hot Tuna gigs. Compared to those basses, the price IS a lot more affordable.

I've tried the Epi and it is heavy and feels really well-built. But I found the neck uncomfortable. I prefer my Starfire (with Darkstar pickups) but my opinion merits as much attention as Blutto's grade point average at Faber College.... 0.0

Hilarious movie - those guys rule!
The window scene with Bluto at the girls dorm gets me every time, when he's jumping along the wall on the ladder, and the look on his face...
Does a longer scale neck have more frets, or more space between the frets? Possibly a very stupid question, but what's new for me?

Short scale basses use 30" strings while long scale use 34". The frets are definitely closer together, which makes a huge difference to a guy with small hands. I can't remember on the number of frets.

Jack first played a long-scale (Fender Jazz bass), switched to the short-scale Starfires and then back to long-scales. So I guess hand size is not an issue for him!! On that guitar repair video interview he made an issue of the better sound from the longer scale, but he put out some great sounds with the Starfires.

Ahhh, different scale lengths.
For those interested . . .
Each fret represents a note on the 12-note chromatic scale. Yes the frets have to be closer on a smaller scaled instrument just like the frets are closer together the closer they are to the bridge. Because, in effect, once a finger is pressing down a note on a string, it is now instantly creating a â€œshorter scaleâ€